Posts

I was out over the Thanksgiving weekend doing some shopping. Needless to say, I wasn’t in the best frame of mind. Quite frankly, my attitude needed an adjustment. Instead of enjoying the hustle and bustle of people out doing their thing, the company of my wife, or the beautiful, crisp, November weather, I complained to myself about why we were there. I’m certain my body language was poor and even more certain that I had the Grinch’s puss on my face.

And then we walked into an old country store and I saw a rustic framed quote from Charles Swindoll:

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company … a church … a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude … I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you … we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

Wow! These were powerful words and they showed up for me to see, just in time. I’m certain my day would have degraded into something terrible and probably would have ended with a spat with my wife by the end.

Instead, I took charge of my attitude and changed my entire day.

I realized just how right Swindoll is. Every single day we have a choice. Happiness is a choice. Embrace a positive attitude and start the day differently than maybe what feels natural in that moment (like staying in your bad mood & being a Grinch through the holiday season).

As we head into the holiday season, there is no better time to choose your attitude. The stress will mount each day both in your personal and professional life as the year comes to an end. Recognize that life is going to happen, and we can’t stop it. Just reflect on what Chuck Swindoll teaches in his quote, 90% of life is HOW WE REACT. Let life happen, and make the conscious decision to be positive in reaction.

Choose a great attitude starting today & let’s finish the year strong!

I bet a lot of you don’t know why we call ourselves 9DOTS. This is especially relevant because we are changing that. 9DOTS is making sure that everyone accesses our website knows who we are and what we do. Additionally, 9DOTS made some changes that started THIS MONTH. As a matter of fact we will continue to make changes going forward because we love to listen to our clients, we think outside the Box, and we solve problems.

Starting June 1st 9DOTS’ social media presence is stronger, customer support improved, and finally a maintenance bulletin is on the website. As a company, we say we are “Decidedly Different.” For example, 9DOTS chooses not to be a vendor but most of all seek partnership. We are always straight forward, yet offer a hint of sarcasm. We are completely transparent in responses and due to our personality. 9DOTS recognized that the website seemed jumbled, blogs posted few and far between, and social media slacked. We are problem solvers, and that means we solve even our OWN problems.

Did you know 9DOTS is named after the answer to a puzzle? The Nine Dots Puzzle poses the challenge to connect nine dots using four straight lines or less. Don’t lift the pencil from the paper! Challenge yourself and start below.

9DOTS encourages unconventional thinking to generate decidedly different business intelligence strategies. We don’t just hand out software and tell companies to be on their way! Yes, 9DOTS uses Business Analytics to solve problems, but it’s the way we think that makes us stand out from the rest. There is a box filled with Business Intelligence companies. Creativity, dedication and 9DOTS sit outside of that box.

Some people start to solve the puzzle by drawing the pencil in a box shape. If that is you, then you aren’t the only one! The ANSWER though, is to think OUTSIDE of the box shape. Try to solve it! The answer is below.

To know more about how 9DOTS can solve your problems, contact us & Follow us below on FB, Twitter or LinkedIN to stay up to date on all of our info!

http://www.ixdots.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Blogging-challenge-solve-readers-problems.jpg448800Sam Floriohttp://www.ixdots.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/9DOTS-Logo.pngSam Florio2017-06-05 18:33:352017-06-07 15:58:48Do you know why we are called 9DOTS ?? We Solve Problems

2015 is coming to an end, and so has your budgeting season. If you have been reading along, or even if you haven’t, here are a few facts we learned through different surveys and research throughout the year.

A study by Grant Thorton, LLP shows that only 36% of businesses use scenarios and “what-if” analyses to re-check possible outcomes of a strategy.

A study by F1F showed that, out of 1,200 senior managers surveyed yielded stastics like “17% of large businesses suffered financial loss due to poor spreadsheets, and 78% say that key financial decisions are supported by spreadsheets.”

Companies spend weeks or even months completing the annual budgeting process, because it is so important. But too many companies fail to supplement the annual budget with planning activities that could strengthen performance management, gain competitive advantage, and of course drive profit!

Read our white paper to figure out how NOT to be a statistic in 2016, and instead stay ahead of the competition.

When you picture your organization’s financial future, it shouldn’t just be an unattainable dream. Factor in every element that contributes to the future you desire: revenues, cash flows, accounts receivable and payable, overhead, salaries, benefits and capital expenditures. With a forecasting solution a dream becomes an achievable goal. It’s not always smooth sailing when you set a plan and try to follow it. In fact, it’s really challenging.

Environmental changes, interest rate shifts, customer behavior contradictions, supply issues, demand changes and other factors are unpredictable. They steer us away from the path we set out on. Factoring in changes to your forecasting system can seem daunting and stressful–pushing that dream further away from your future. Financial forecasts should make you feel safe, secure and prepared for every for in the road.

The first step is accepting that risk and uncertainty happen in business. When the business drivers change, your business needs to adapt and accommodate the variables as quickly, painlessly and accurately as possible. 9Dots Forecasting makes it easy to adapt to the challenges that are thrown your way. Your forecast should take advantage of the past and provide predictability for the future in order to capitalize on opportunities for future growth. 9Dots has automated and streamlined the forecasting process allowing you to make frequent adjustments so that you utilize history, apply factors and drivers, and generate a more accurate, consolidated forecast reflecting the current run rate of your business. It eliminates uncertainties, and reduces the need for risky approximations.

9Dots has a proven record of providing managers with the ability to factor industry-specific challenges and projections into the plan, quickly and smoothly. Year-round planning and rolling forecasting, unlimited forecast versions, advanced business rules and modeling are just some of many features and capabilities the 9Dots Forecasting tool has so that you can achieve your goals and not just dream about them.

http://www.ixdots.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Forecastign2-e1423155024296.jpg195381Sam Floriohttp://www.ixdots.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/9DOTS-Logo.pngSam Florio2015-02-12 16:12:322015-02-18 17:20:59Forecasting Certainty in an Uncertain World